Contributions by Jeremy Barris, Laura Canis and Paul Canis, Stanford W. Carpenter, Kevin de Laplante, Robert C. Harvey, Terry Kading, Jeff McLaughlin, Amy Kiste Nyberg, Aldo Regalado, Pierre Skilling, and Iain Thomson

Through the combination of text and images, comic books offer a unique opportunity to explore deep questions about aesthetics, ethics, and epistemology in nontraditional ways. The essays in this collection focus on a wide variety of genres, from mainstream superhero comics, to graphic novels of social realism, to European adventure classics.

Included among the contributions are essays on existentialism in Daniel Clowes's graphic novel Ghost World, ecocriticism in Paul Chadwick's long-running Concrete series, and political philosophies in Hergé's perennially popular The Adventures of Tintin. Modern political concerns inform Terry Kading's discussion of how superhero comics have responded to 9/11 and how the genre reflects the anxieties of the contemporary world.

Essayists also explore the issues surrounding the development and appreciation of comics. Amy Kiste Nyberg examines the rise of the Comics Code, using it as a springboard for discussing the ethics of censorship and child protection in America. Stanford W. Carpenter uses interviews to analyze how a team of Marvel artists and writers reimagined the origin of one of Marvel's most iconic superheroes, Captain America. Throughout, essayists in Comics as Philosophy show how well the form can be used by its artists and its interpreters as a means of philosophical inquiry.

From the Publisher:

This inventive anthology uses the comics to explore the tenets of philosophy, and:

* Features essays on such popular comics as The Amazing Spider-Man, Tintin, Watchmen, and Captain America

* Features essays by noted comics scholars Robert C. Harvey and Amy Kiste Nyberg, among others

* Includes contributions from Jeremy Barris (Marshall University), Laura Canis (Baldwin Wallace College), Paul Canis (John Carroll University/Cleveland State University), Stanford W. Carpenter (independent; Baltimore), Robert C. Harvey (independent; Champaign, Illinois), Terry Kading (Thompson Rivers University), Kevin de Laplante (Iowa State University) Jeff McLaughlin (Thompson Rivers University), Amy Kiste Nyberg (Seton Hall University), Aldo Regalado (University of Miami–Florida), Pierre Skilling (Université Laval, Québec City, Canada), and Iain Thomson (University of New Mexico)

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.

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Mount Angel Abbey Library is housed in a world-renowned building designed by Finnish architect, Alvar Aalto. The architecture of the Abbey Library reflects and shapes its spirit and purpose. The building's natural light illumines the multi-color bindings, offered on open stacks against a disciplined black and white background, softened by undulating curves and light colored wood. The structure, including three stories and a mezzanine, was completed in 1970. The library is a part of Mount Angel Abbey a community of Benedictine Monks.

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